Ice Cream of The Future
by Besottedly
Summary: A series of ficlets beginning with Sheldon and Penny going for ice cream.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I do not own The Big Bang Theory. This is a fan work not done for profit.

The small collection of tables and chairs around the ice cream stand were occupied by a school group composed of howling monkeys disguised as children, so Penny and Sheldon made their way to the ledge of the nearby reflecting pool.

Sheldon refused to sit, so they stood and silently consumed their ice cream.

With half of his cup still left, Sheldon stuck the spoon in the middle and turned to her.

"Penny, that ice cream stand advertises fraudulently. This is not the ice cream of the future. If anything it is the ice cream of the last decade."

"Why aren't you eating?"

"The roof of my mouth became too cold," he admitted.

"Well hurry up. You don't want to have to drink the rest."

He picked up the spoon again and poked at what was left in his bowl as she finished hers.

"Penny?"

"Yes, Sheldon?"

"What do you plan to do about, as you put it, the thing?"

"I really don't know, sweetie. I guess I have some time to think about it before I have to decide."

She stared out over the water as he attempted to eat more of the now mostly melted ice cream.

"Penny?"

"Yes, Sheldon."

She jumped a little when he began to give her a sympathetic pat on the shoulder.

"There, there. It will be fine."

The tears broke free and Penny began to sob as Sheldon looked on helplessly, his hand still lingering on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry," she gasped between sobs, "I can't help it."

Penny dropped her purse and empty ice cream cup where she stood. She wrapped her arms around Sheldon and buried her face in his shirt. He was stiff in her embrace, but even through the haze of sadness she could tell he was trying to relax.

"There, there," he said, still patting her shoulder. "Everything will be fine."


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I do not own The Big Bang Theory. This is a fan work not done for profit.

"Sheldon?"

"Yes, Leonard?"

"Could you come talk to Penny?" The voice on the other side of the door hesitated. "We had an argument over her dishes."

"Why would I need to talk to her? You're the one involved in a dispute wither her."

"Because she's locked herself in the bathroom," he admitted, "and she won't come out. I thought that she might listen to you."

Leonard barely had time to stand back before the door to what had been his room, but was now Sheldon's, was thrown open and Sheldon flew out.

It hadn't been hard to convince her to part with things like her couch and microwave. They already had those things. Parting with smaller things set her off. There had been tears as they had packed away her pots and pans to donate them to the Goodwill. None of them really cooked, but the pots and pans Leonard's mother had nagged him into buying when he first moved to California were much nicer than any of Penny's. There was no space for two sets which they would never use. Penny herself had suggested getting rid of them, but that did not stop the tears from coming as she stacked them in the box.

He knocked three times on the bathroom door and called her name.

"What?" she snapped from inside.

"I would like to speak to you about the plate situation."

"Alright, but I'm not coming out."

Inside of the bathroom she struggled with the lock and finally finding it unlocked, cracked the door open only enough for Sheldon to slip inside.

With him inside she slammed the door shut and stood against it.

"Sheldon, all of imy stuff/i is being given away. All of your stuff is still here."

"Of course, Penny. There was no point in keeping all of your things as we have neither the space nor the need for those them. And may I point out that not all of your things have been given away? You still have all of your clothes, DVDs," he began to tick off items on his fingers, "CDs, house plants…"

"That isn't what I meant, Sheldon. All the stuff that made my apartment my home is gone. Everything here is you guys'." She threw up her hands. "Nothing in the apartment says 'Penny lives here'."

"I believe your clothes hanging in the closet say that."

"Most people don't spend time in closets. It doesn't feel like home."

"Are you familiar with the expression 'home is where the heart is'? As I understand it, that adage applies to this situation."

"I know, but it just doesn't feel like home."

"What would make it 'feel like home'? Would you like to hang up that awful Mucha print you had hanging in your bedroom?"

"Mucha?"

Sheldon sighed and attempted not to roll his eyes. He would lecture her later on the history of the Art Nouveau movement. "The one with the lady covered in lilies."

"I guess that would be nice… I really want to hang up my curtains."

"Well why didn't you say so?"

"I don't know." She backed away from the door and leaned against the sink. "This whole thing has been so stressful… I don't feel like I've been in control of anything. Everything just happened so suddenly. It feels like I've just been sitting there while everyone else made decisions for me."

"You agreed to getting rid of most of your things."

"But everything else. No working, no lifting heavy objects, and now I have to lay in bed all day? I don't know how much more I can take."

"Those are recommendations made by your doctor to keep you healthy. I can understand why being ordered to stay in bed all day would be annoying, but it is in your best interest. Besides, you only have a month left."

"Stuck in bed all day—it feels like an eternity."

"It only feels like an eternity. If that is all, I'll go tell Leonard to hang the curtains." He squeezed past her and opened the door.

"Wait for me." Penny said. "I wanna watch."


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: I would like to thank the people who have beta-d this at various points: Sarisia, Damalur, and MrsVC. I would also like to remind you that I do not own The Big Bang Theory. This is only a fan work.

Suddenly, everything took place and nothing happened.

It was all over and there was nothing to show for it. All three of them returned to the apartment, just as it had been before, but it felt somehow empty.

Penny lay in bed all day and did nothing. Sheldon could not even tempt her into playing Age of Conan. Leonard spent a lot of time with her, sitting on the edge of the bed, speaking to her softly. They talked about everything except what had occurred. He pulled out her old sheets and comforter and put them on the bed, trying to bring a little more familiarity to the room.

Sheldon still slept next to her, but their schedules didn't agree anymore. She slept late into the morning and he went to sleep early. Penny would half-heartedly ask him about his day until he pulled the covers over himself and closed his eyes. Even he could tell that things were tense, and usually he wasn't good at that sort of thing. Either his perception was improving or things had reached a fever pitch.

"You should go talk to her," Leonard told Sheldon. It was the refrain to his days that he could almost set his watch by, should he wish to set it by anything as inaccurate at Leonard Hofstadter.

He was reluctant to say anything to her. Sheldon understood that he was not the most comforting figure for many people.

Then she woke him up with her crying.

He found it odd that her crying had awoken him. It wasn't as if she was particularly loud or even shifting around in the bed unnecessarily, as she did sometimes, but laying there, he couldn't find his way back to sleep.

Sheldon reached out and stroked her hair, cautious in case she should turn on him. To his surprise she rolled towards him and grasped his shirt. He turned on his side so that Penny wasn't stretching his shirt quite so much.

"Why?" she asked him.

He had no answer for her.


End file.
